Stryker (NYSE:SYK) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Stryker (NYSE:SYK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Stryker from $383.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 price objective (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Stryker in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Stryker from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Stryker from $402.00 to $418.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Stryker from $375.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Stryker has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $405.80.

Stryker Stock Performance

Shares of SYK opened at $390.31 on Wednesday. Stryker has a 52 week low of $307.23 and a 52 week high of $398.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $375.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $359.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.91.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The medical technology company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.10. Stryker had a return on equity of 23.07% and a net margin of 16.34%. The firm had revenue of $5.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Stryker will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stryker Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Stryker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Stryker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.01%.

Insider Activity at Stryker

In related news, CEO Kevin Lobo sold 57,313 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.70, for a total value of $21,131,303.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 100,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,879,954.90. This represents a 36.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zhang Financial LLC boosted its position in Stryker by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 114,889 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $41,366,000 after buying an additional 40,784 shares during the period. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Stryker during the fourth quarter valued at about $587,000. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Stryker during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,350,000. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Stryker during the third quarter valued at about $762,798,000. Finally, Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Stryker by 2.4% during the third quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 66,681 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $24,089,000 after buying an additional 1,554 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.09% of the company’s stock.

About Stryker

Stryker Corporation operates as a medical technology company. The company operates through two segments, MedSurg and Neurotechnology, and Orthopaedics and Spine. The Orthopaedics and Spine segment provides implants for use in total joint replacements, such as hip, knee and shoulder, and trauma and extremities surgeries.